Tim Lambesis, 32, was arrested at a shop in Oceanside, Southern California yesterday according to a statement released by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
He was detained on suspicion on hiring an undercover detective to murder his estranged wife Meggan, who is believed to have started legal proceedings for divorce last September.
Detectives said they averted an attempted hit on Meggan Lambesis, who lives in nearby Encinitas, after they received information last Thursday that Lambesis had solicited someone to kill his wife.
"The information came to us late last week. We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy," San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell told Reuters.
The singer, with his trademark long hair and heavy tattoos, was arrested “without incident” at around 2pm.
The band formed in San Diego 13 years ago, releasing six albums including their most commercially successful 2007 LP, An Ocean Between Us, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts. A track from the album was nominated for a Grammy for top metal performance.
As I Lay Dying, whose title is taken from a William Faulkner novel, describes itself as “always has something thoughtful and positive to say while still playing a combustible, aggressive style of music”.
As I Lay Dying has stated on several occasions that all of the members of the group are Christians. When asked if they're a Christian band or Christians in a band, Tim Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ,
"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, If you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian."
However, Lambis also stated on his Tumblr page
"Every year that I had put toward my degree in Religious Studies caused me to see the god of tradition and ritual that I grew up with as less and less of a probable truth. By the time I graduated, my entire concept of the divine had changed as I sought to reconcile spirituality and reason. The more I sought truth uncorrupted by years of religious history, the more I kept finding answers I didn’t want to find. Emotionally, it would have been easiest for me to just hold on to what I grew up believing, but mentally that wasn’t an option anymore."
